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“I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.”

— Warren Buffett

One of the most important things investors can learn from Warren Buffett, is about how they approach their time horizon for an investment into a stock under consideration. Because immediately after buying shares of a given stock, investors will then be able to check on the day-to-day (and even minute-by-minute) market value. Some days the stock market will be up, other days down. These daily fluctuations can often distract from the long-term view. Today, we look at the result of a five year holding period for an investor who was considering United Rentals Inc (NYSE: URI) back in 2017, bought the stock, ignored the market’s ups and downs, and simply held through to today.

Start date: 03/20/2017
$10,000

03/20/2017
$27,746

03/17/2022
End date: 03/17/2022
Start price/share: $124.99
End price/share: $346.77
Starting shares: 80.01
Ending shares: 80.01
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 177.44%
Average annual return: 22.67%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $27,746.33

As we can see, the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 22.67%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $27,746.33 today (as of 03/17/2022). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 177.44% (something to think about: how might URI shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

One more investment quote to leave you with:
“Finding the best person or the best organization to invest your money is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make.” — Bill Gross